Customer Reviews

The King's Trial: Louis XVI vs. the French Revolution

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This is a fair, balanced, but too dry account of the trial and execution of Louis XVI. All the facts are there, but none of the drama. The book also suffers from the propensity to summarize rather than describe events. The author seems reluctant to delve too deeply into details, assuming we've all heard the story before. Thus the drama never seems to come alive; the whiff of the textbook hovers over its pages.
On the positive side, Mr. Jordan has no axes to grind and maintains a scrupulous objectivity. Suprisingly, it is only Louis himself who has the power to elicit an emotional response, albeit restrained, from our author. Chapter four, his portrait of Louis' life in the Temple, provides a touching portrait of the King, enhanced by the inclusion of the famous sketch of the King in profile shortly before his death.

Jordan's book has several commendable points. His overview of the Revolution pre-trial is cogent and useful to newcomers. His portrayal of the King's last months are evocative and poignant. Jordan also gives a thorough account of all the various arguments employed during the debates. The narrative stumbles a little with his negative characterization of the Girondins and a laudatory one of the Jacobins as better caretakers of the Revolution. This despite the Girondins being sacrificed to the mob by the jacobins' fear and their subsequent government abandoning both Republican and Democratic legacies and embracing the totalitarian terror. Would the Girondins' moderation in retrospect really have had a comparable negative impact? His final chapter on the obliteration of Louis' remains is oddly joyful. maybe he should have written a hagiography of Marat. Overall worth reading.

It's hard for me to believe that there are few books on King Louis XVI in light of the French Revolution. This is indeed an interesting look at King Louis- Jordan uses narrative to play out the history of the French Revolution and its aftermath. It was a slow read, but well written.